No phone call for subsidized high earners

The municipality is not planning to contact subsidized institutions that exceed the so-called wopt norm of 193,000 euros for publicly funded executives. However, it will in the future ask subsidized organisations whether they exceed the wopt norm.

In June last year, the municipality said in response to questions from Laurens Ivens (SP) that it thinks it is undesirable for institutions that are largely publicly funded to pay ‘excessive remunerations’. The municipality did not consider it its responsibility to actively monitor this, but added: “The city government makes the promise that in case the annual report of a subsidized institution shows that one of the employees earns more than the national norm for the public sector (to become the wopt norm), the relevant alderman will have a discussion with the board of the institution.”

In December last year, the national government published a list of (partly) publicly funded institutions paying remunerations exceeding the wopt norm. This list contains at least one institution that receives substantial subsidies from the municipality, i.e. the Concertgebouw Orchestra. According to municipal budgets, the orchestra receives an annual subsidy of approximately 6 million euros.

The municipality indicated it plans to revise the subsidy regulations to the effect that institutions will in the future be asked whether they exceed the wopt norm. However, it has no plans as yet to contact institutions on the wopt list of the national government on the basis of its current policy.